Gamer4 in. I never intend to leave stories unupdated for so long, but sometimes things happen. Things do tend to happen, for great hope and for great despair alike. At least I finally got around to proofreading the previous chapters- that's always a bonus. I never really know what to say up here, so let's just get back to brass tacks.

Disclaimer: Oh, oh, witchy woman- see how high she flies! Oh, oh, witchy woman, she got the moon in her eyes!

Chapter V

The Melancholy of Junko Enoshima (Part II)

Junko slunk her way down into the kitchen without any real interest in not being discovered. Old or new, she found she didn't care overly much who saw her.

It was to her surprise that the cafeteria was still open- then she had to pause and wonder why that should be such a surprise. It took a moment to recall that the cafeteria had always been closed at night during the events of the game- something she- or rather, Jack and Tom- had concluded was likely due to Junko- er, herself- stocking the kitchen at that time. Urrrghh, losing her mind was not proving as fun as she'd always thought it would be.

Mixing and clashing memories aside, she made her way to the kitchen, where she began mixing herself a drink. She made it stronger... and stronger... and, after a moment of thought, a little stronger still. She was still coming to terms with raw emotions after fifteen years of pure despair, surely, that was it...

She took her drink back out into the empty cafeteria, abandoned and dark, and took a sip, shuddering as the strong taste met her tongue. It brought back memories... memories that really shouldn't be her own, yet somehow were.

XXXX

"Alright, everyone, drinks are on me!" Tom grinned as he plopped large mugs down in front of each of his friends, his brown eyes gleaming.

"My, what a gentleman!" Lana giggled brightly.

"Stop giggling, Lana, it's creepy when you do it," Vanessa, grouch that she was, muttered as she took a drink of her own.

"Here's to a job well done!" Jack beamed as he raised his mug. Tom and Lana rose theirs as well, then turned with smirks to look at Vanessa.

She eyed them all up, rolled her eyes, and with a twitch at the corners of her mouth so minute only the three people she was with could have ever caught it, she raised her glass as well. "Cheers."

"Hey, Jack," Tom asked as he slid into his eat across from him and next to Lana. "You're a fan of that Ace Attorney series, aintcha?"

"Definitely in my top three," Jack nodded, then hesitated. "Or... five... maybe ten..."

"Try not to stress out over it so much," Vanessa advised in her traditional deadpan manner.

"Yeah, stop trying to overthink everything!" Lana nodded fervently. "That's how the shoehorn incident-"

"Don't, don't, don't... don't even remind me of that," Vanessa groaned heavily as she downed about half her mug in a single gulp.

"Yeah, I thought we agreed never to talk about that again!" Jack agreed immediately, turning bright red at one of the team's most embarrassing memories.

"Shoehorn incident? What're you-"

"You weren't there, moving along!" Jack raised his voice as loud as he dared in a public setting. "You were asking about Ace Attorney?"

Tom eyed him up and down very closely, but seemed ready to move along- Jack let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, I kinda stumbled on this new series- it's called Danganronpa, and I'm thinking it's right up your alley."

"Danganronpa... I think I've heard of that... isn't that the one with the freaky teddy bear?"

"That's the one!" Tom nodded. "Feel like giving it a spin when we get back?"

"Sounds like a plan!" Jack nodded, clapping his hands together and beginning to rub them. "I've been looking for a new series to try out..."

"Anything to put the shoehorn incident behind, huh?" Lana smirked.

"Oh, come on, Lana!" Jack objected.

"Yeah, about that shoehorn..."

"Tom, no!"

Vanessa sighed. "I guess you won't be satisfied until we fill you in..."

"Even you, V?" Jack gasped, betrayed. "Come on, guys, leave it alone!"

Lana ignored him, already launching off on her own- no doubt embellished- version of events. "Y'see, it all started when-"

"No, no, nononono! Leave it alone! Leave it-"

XXXX

"...Alone," Junko muttered, looking around the empty cafeteria. "...Alone."

She leaned back, took another long swig from her cup, and nearly did a spit take when a tentative voice behind her almost whispered, "But... but you're not!"

XXXX

Chihiro had been sneaking to the cafeteria for a late-night snack of his own when he'd spied Junko sitting at a table all by her lonesome. He'd initially panicked, recalling her words to him earlier that day- 'little man,' she'd called him. The idea of the notorious prankster, the Ultimate Gadfly, the self-proclaimed goddess of mischief and despair knowing his deepest, darkest secret sent chills up and down his spine.

His initial thought was to simply turn on his heel and return to his room, all thoughts of late-night snacks forgotten.

Then he'd heard her say that word- a word that chilled him to his bones.

Alone.

A quote came to him from a book he'd read long ago: Alone- the worst word in our tongue. Murder doesn't hold a candle to it, and Hell is just a poor synonym.

He knew Junko fancied herself a trickster, but there was... genuine sorrow in her voice, and it wasn't like there was anyone around for her to fake it to- at least, as far as she knew. Chihiro... didn't want to leave her like that, all on her own...

The first time she tried to speak, something caught in his throat. The second time, he only got out a single word- "But-"

Third time was the charm. "But you're not!"

Junko reacted with a great deal of surprise, nearly choking on her drink as she spun around to see who had intruded on her solitude. Her surprise surprised Chihiro, who jumped nearly a fool foot from the ground before pulling back into himself, nervous that he'd messed everything up. "I'm sorry!" he squeaked. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!"

Every possible awful scenario played through his mind- Junko would be furious at him, no doubt, for startling her, and she'd find a way to pay him back. If he was lucky, she'd assault him with minor-to-major pranks for the next week or so before finally getting bored and moving on, but... but if he was truly unlucky, she might tell everyone his secret, only laughing when he begged for mercy, telling everyone what a freak he-

"Oh- Chihiro- nah, it's fine, just swallowed down the wrong pipe is all!"

Chihiro fought to steady his breathing, eyeing the young woman with disbelief- there was a trail of dark brown leaking from her mouth, presumably from where she'd let her drink escape in her surprise. But there was no trace of anger or scorn on her face- she seemed genuinely calm, calming Chihiro himself a little. "S-sorry," he whispered as he drew closer.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, you keep sayin' sorry," Junko brushed his apology aside, quickly putting on that wide grin she was best known for- to Chihiro, who still recalled the state he'd found her in, it seemed rather fake. "What you should be tellin' me is... want something to eat?"

"Hu- huh?" Chihiro continued to stammer, truly caught off guard.

"C'mon, down here in the middle of the night, what else are you here for? Well, since you're here, whaddya say to an omelette? You haven't lived til you've tried one of my omelettes."

Chihiro stood there, befuddled. He hadn't expected to run into Junko at all tonight, let alone be offered some of her cooking. Not wishing to be rude (particularly if she was secretly upset about the surprise,) he nodded mutely.

"Nice!" Junko beamed, leaping up and dashing into the kitchen, leaving a very confused Chihiro to take the closest seat before his legs gave out under him. He heard humming in the kitchen, and the scent of something cooking met his nose, sending his mouth to water.

Part of him still wanted to run- what if this, itself, was a prank to get back at him for startling her?

Alone...

No, he could give her the benefit of the doubt, at least for now. Besides, it would be rude to accept her invitation then run while she was in the kitchen.

A moment later, Junko reappeared, two plates in her arms, each with a set of classic bacon and eggs. "Okay, change of plans, we don't have quite the ingredients here I had back home, so... just regular ol' eggs and bacon. Hope that doesn't bring you too much despair!"

Chihiro eyed her plate, searching for any traces of mischief.

Junko gave a laugh that rang just a little hollow. "Don't worry, there's no poison." She punctuated this by taking a large bite of her own eggs.

Chihiro picked up her fork and took a bite- his eyes widened in surprise. "This is... really good!"

"Eggs were always my specialty," Junko repeated. "So... how did the big guys do after I left?"

"Big- oh, Taka and Mondo? They... they kept going at it. I never thought I'd see those two like that..."

"Ultimate Analyst," Junko gave a somewhat wan smile. "I pick up on these things. I pick up on... lots of things."

Chihiro was reminded of their exchange earlier. "How... how long have you known?"

"First time I saw you," Junko answered promptly. "I wouldn't call it obvious- not to anyone else, at least. Took me longer to put together the whys, though."

"You even know that?" Chihiro asked, eyeing her with a newfound awe.

"I mean, I have my guesses," Junko quickly amended, though it came across very much like she just didn't want Chihiro to run away screaming. "Obviously, I'm no mind reader."

Chihiro remained silent for a good, long while. Finally, he whispered, "You... you won't..."

"Tell anyone? No, that's not the plan," Junko shook her head.

Chihiro looked up hopefully. "It's not?"

"It's your secret to tell, not mine."

Chihiro was taken aback by the level of understanding in the woman's eyes. Before tonight, she'd never have imagined having a discussion like this with the Ultimate Gadfly, as several of her classmates knew her.

"...Thank you."

"Hey, what's a secret or two between friends?" Junko smiled- not a mischievous smirk, but an honest smile- before rising to her feet and taking her plate back towards the kitchen. A moment later, she was at the cafeteria doors, where she looked back. "Oh- Chihiro?"

Chihiro winced- here it came. Everything had been building up to this moment. "Yes?"

"You know that program we were working on- Monokuma?"

"Yeah- a soft AI, why?"

"I was fiddling around with it, and I think I might have accidentally caught a virus. Hard to tell, but just to be safe, maybe we should just scrap the whole thing."

She left before Chihiro could give an answer- this time, she hadn't even looked back.

Chihiro looked back at the cup Junko had left on the table, containing the dark brown drink she'd been consuming just as Chihiro came in. The strong smell coming off of it left her in no doubt what it was.

"I'd have thought you'd want some actual milk in your chocolate milk..."

XXXX

As Mukuro made her way down the street, she knew, deep in her heart, that she was dreaming. She was moving down a street in the middle of a vast city with a level of calm she could only feel in her sleep.

Buildings rose high above her- buildings she didn't feel as though she should remember, yet simultaneously felt as though she'd walked among them her whole life. She knew, even before looking across the street, what she would see there- a large restaurant decorated along the lines of the jungle, a neon sign of a green tree frog, and a wishing fountain centered around a large animatronic crocodile. She was sure she'd never been to such a place, but it filled her chest with warmth as she gazed upon it.

The words overhead were written in English- far from her first language, but she knew without having to think about it that the name of this place was the Rainforest Café.

And coming out of the door was her sister. She was taking a drink from a large glass in her hand. There was a smile on her face- not a mischievous smirk, not a false smile meant to trick the rest of the world into believing that things were okay, but a genuine, soft smile, indicating that she was, at long last, at peace with the world and herself.

Junko's eyes rose up and met hers- her smile spread, and she raised her free hand to wave and beckon her across the street. Mukuro found herself smiling as well, but before she could take a single step forward, a car came careening out of nowhere, screaming around the corner and slamming into her sister before either could even respond.

Mukuro's blood ran cold as she watched Junko fall to the pavement, the car continuing down the road without a care in the world. "No... NO!"

She rushed forward, desperate to get to her, but a crowd seemed to form out of nowhere, gathering around the fallen sister, pushing her back no matter how hard she tried to fight. "Let me through- let me through- THAT'S MY SISTER, LET ME THROUGH!"

Her breath caught when she finally arrived at her sister's side- she was already dead. Her body was broken, every limb at an odd angle, her eyes horribly empty and vacant, her head lying in a rapidly-swelling pool of blood. Something inside her broke- she reached out and delicately lifted her sister's head from the pavement. All decorum was abandoned- she wailed her despair to the heavens as she clutched onto her sister's corpse as if she could somehow hold on to her life.

XXXX

Mukuro awoke with a start, her heart racing, her skin plastered with sweat. It took several minutes to steady her breathing, banishing that horrible nighttime vision to the recesses of her mind. She was naturally concerned over her sister's odd behavior, that was all- her concern was manifesting itself in the form of a... rather awful nightmare.

*Though I've never really had nightmares before...*

No. She had to stop thinking like that- she'd go down to breakfast, see that Junko was okay, and everything would be fine. It had to be.

XXXX

Junko was not at breakfast when she got there, so she took a seat next to the only other person she was particularly close to- Makoto Naegi, of course. "Ikusaba-san!" he smiled when he saw her. "You look... like you didn't sleep well..."

"I didn't," she admitted. "I had a... nightmare." She felt some shame in admitting it, some self-critical part of her brain worried that Makoto would think less of her upon learning this.

Naturally, however, he didn't. "That sucks," he said sympathetically. "Any progress on Enoshima-san?"

"We watched one of her favorite shows together," Mukuro related. "She seemed to be getting better at first, but then... I don't know exactly, but she seemed... unhappy."

"Unhappy?"

Mukuro internally debated whether or not to tell him about the impossible tears. Ultimately, she decided against it- while she didn't believe for a second that he'd disparage or deride her for it, they still felt like something personal- to be kept between the sisters unless it was absolutely necessary. "She seemed... sad."

"Sad?" came a sudden new voice- Taka, as it turned out. "That won't do- allowing a classmate that has done as much for us as she has is not permitted in a school environment!"

"'Done as much as she has?'" Byakuya scoffed over his morning coffee. "Are you quite certain we are talking about the same Junko Enoshima? I struggle to recall her doing much of anything for any of us over the course of this year, other than making herself as much of a nuisance as possible!"

"Hey, lay off, man!" Mondo objected. "Sure, she's a crazy chick, but she's still a chick- show a little respect, why don't ya?"

"Besides, she brought bro and I together!" Taka backed him up immediately. "I can hardly think of a greater contribution to our school life!"

"Like I said- a nuisance," Byakuya fired back without missing a beat.

"Forget about Byakuya," Hina rolled her eyes. "But... are you sure? I mean, Junko *is* usually kinda... out there. She... enjoys being sad, doesn't she? I never really thought about that before... how does that even make any sense?"

Mukuro didn't know how to follow that line of inquiry- at the end of the day, she didn't actually understand Junko's despair obsession much more than they did- but she could tell them a bit more of the truth. "I've been saying, she's changed lately- she doesn't seem to get the same pleasure from despair that she once did."

"I... I bumped into her last night," Chihiro spoke up nervously. "She... definitely didn't seem like her usual self."

"Heheheh... yes, verily, I see..."

There was more than one sigh of exasperation as Hifumi Yamada entered the conversation. Leon, who'd been keeping himself to eavesdropping so far, groaned, "Whatever you're about to say, don't."

"But Mr. Kuwata, I believe I have solved the riddle of Ms. Enoshima's sudden change!" Hifumi boasted. "It is clear to me that she has suffered one of those changes of heart that are all the rage recently!"

There was a general groaning, but at least a couple of the others exressed some interest. "A change of heart, you say?" Celeste asked after a sip of her favorite royal milk tea. "Care to elaborate upon your theory?"

The answer came, not from Hifumi, but from Kyoko Kirigiri, premiere Ultimate Detective. "The Change of Heart phenomenon refers to a series of ongoing cases in Shibuya, in which reprehensible individuals previously acting with complete impunity abruptly confess their actions with their own mouths, often expressing great remorse, and willingly allowing themselves to be taken to prison."

"Wait, so that's an actual thing?" Leon asked, surprised.

"Yes- though I don't believe that to be what is happening here," Kyoko added. "Every victim of the change of heart phenomenon has initially received a calling card from a group calling themselves the Phantom Thieves- unless I am mistaken, Junko has received no such card. Additionally, as I said, these changes of heart are accompanied- every time- by a full confession of some truly nefarious deed committed by the person in question. Has Junko confessed some sort of deep, dark secret to any of you?"

There was a great deal of staring and shrugging.

"I... she told me she accidentally downloaded a virus," Chihiro recalled, "but I don't think that's quite what you're talking about, is it?"

"No, the things confessed by change of heart victims are much darker than accidentally downloading a computer virus," Kyoko confirmed. "There are some superficial similarities, but overall, I am quite confident in saying these cases have nothing to do with each other."

"Does anybody know where she is now?" Mukuro interrupted, becoming uncomfortably aware of her sister's absence. As much as she'd like to deny it, the previous night's vision was continuing to gnaw at her mind.

Simple a question as it was, it brought a dead silence to the cafeteria, several of the students looking around in surprise.

"That's odd, she usually would be here by now," Taka commented.

"When's the last time someone saw her?" Mukuro asked, hoping she didn't sound as panicked as she felt- if any of the others found out, they'd no doubt think she was crazy.

"You said you saw her last night, didn't ya, Chi?" Mondo asked of their smallest classmate.

"Yeah, we... we had a midnight snack together," Chihiro summed up their encounter as succinctly as possible.

"Anyone seen her since?" Mondo continued, glancing around at everyone.

A moment of silence, then Sayaka spoke up. "I think I saw her heading towards the music room earlier!"

Mukuro was up and moving before anyone could even comment. Makoto, being who he was, jumped up and was on her tail. Sayaka glanced around and shrugged. "I... I sent them up there, I suppose I should go see myself."

XXXX

Mukuro froze when she got to the music room- the door was slightly ajar, and she could hear some odd music coming from it.

"Music- does Junko play an instrument?"

Mukuro would later deny that she jumped in surprise when Makoto appeared at her side.

"Not that I know of, but... I suppose she might have picked it up... somewhere..."

"That's an unusual song," Sayaka commented as she brought up the rear. She closed her eyes and listened closely. "I think I might have heard it somewhere... a long time ago..."

They quietly opened the door and found Junko on the stage, behind the piano.

"Let's listen," Sayaka whispered to the others. "Maybe we can figure something out about what's going on with her..."

As Sayaka described, it was a very old-sounding song- it didn't sound like it had been written anywhere near Japan, either. It sounded as though it might be a lullaby, if it weren't for the rather... heavy lyrics.

"Mariah...

Mariah...

They call the wind Mariah...

"Way out west, they've got a name

For rain and wind and fire.

The rain is Tess,

The fire's Joe,

and they call the wind Mariah...

"Mariah blows the stars around,

Sends the clouds a-flyin'-

Mariah makes the mountains sound

Like folks were up there dyin'.

"Before I knew Mariah's name,

And heard her wailin', whining,

I had a man, and he had me,

And the sun was always shining-

"But then, one day, I left my man,

Left him far behind me-

And now I'm lost,

So goddamn lost,

Not even God could find me.

"Way out west, they've named the rain,

The wind and fire, only-

But when you're lost and all alone,

There ain't no word but lonely.

"And I'm a lost and lonely gal,

Without a star to guide me-

Mariah, blow my love to me-

I need my man beside me.

"Mariah...

"Mariah!

Blow my love to me..."

She brought the song to an end and exited off the stage, seemingly without noticing the impromptu audience below.

Makoto slowly turned to Mukuro, who was feeling some tears start to run down her own face now. "Mukuro... mind if we talk for a bit?"

XXXX

Awkward place to cut it? A bit much? Like I said, I'm my own worst critic, I kinda rely on others to let me know these things. But hey, now you know that I'm not dead, and that not every installment is gonna be The Despair Sisters Watch Twin Peaks Power Hour. I plan on getting the next chapter up much sooner than this one- until then, please R&R, Gamer4 out!